This invention relates to improvements in copying machine managing apparatus so designed that where a particular copying machine is used by a plurality of using sections or departments (or users), the value of copies produced by each of the using sections is managed collectively.
Adapted for use with copying machines of the type which is used for producing copies of documents or the like, apparatuses are known in the art which are designed to separately manage mainly the cumulative values of the numbers of copies produced by the respective using sections for the purpose of determining the shares of expenses which are to be borne by the respective using sections. One of these known apparatuses is disclosed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 4478, now U.S. Pat. No. 4,260,878, in which a code indicative of each using section is recorded on a portable information recording medium issued to the using section and the apparatus formed as an integral part of the copying machine reads the code on each of the recording mediums and cumulatively stores the value of copies (e.g., the number of copies) collectively in the storage locations allocated to each of the using sections.
This type of known apparatus is advantageous in that the copying machine usage values of the respective using sections can be stored collectively, that each of the using sections is simply required to hold an information recording medium and perform the operation required for the medium reading operation when using the copying machine thus requiring no mental effort to memorize the code of the using section and that the cumulative storage can be performed positively. However, the known apparatus presents an operational problem when reading the usage value of each of the using section from the associated locations of the memory. In other words, in order to obtain the total usage values of the respective using sections, it is necessary for the administrative department (or the administrator) to collect the information recording mediums from the using sections or alternatively information recording mediums having recorded thereon the same codes as the using sections are preliminarily prepared for sequential reading by the administrative apparatus such that each time the copying machine is used by any using section the stored value corresponding to the using department is indicated on the indicator of the managing apparatus, thus requiring the preliminary preparation of a large number of information recording mediums and requiring much labor for subjecting the recording mediums to sequential reading operation.
With a view to overcoming the foregoing deficiencies in the prior art, it is an object of the present invention to provide an improved copying machine managing apparatus so designed that the operation of producing the total usage value of each of the using sections is simplified extremely.
To accomplish the above object, the present invention provides a managing apparatus designed so that in response to a predetermined operation performed externally on the managing apparatus by each of the using sections, the managing apparatus successively reads out the usage values of the respective using sections which are stored cumulatively in the associated locations of data storage means.
It is another object of the present invention to provide such copying machine managing apparatus which is improved further in that in addition to the using sections, the administrative department is provided with an exclusive information recording medium having a specified code such that by simply presenting this recording medium for reading, it is possible to read the usage values of the respective using sections, thus allowing only the administrative department to perform a totalization operation through a simple operation.